Frederick S. (Fritz) Perls (1893 - 1970) was a noted German-born Psychiatrist and psychotherapist.

He coined the term 'Gestalt Therapy' for the approach to therapy he developed with his wife Laura Perls from the 1940s, and became associated with the Esalen Institute in California in 1964. His approach is related but not identical to Gestalt psychology and the Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy of Hans-Juergen Walter. His ideas were also used to develop new age human potential concerns such as neurolinguistic programming NLP.

He has been widely evoked outside the realm of psychotherapy for a quotation often described as the "Gestalt prayer". This was especially true in the 1960s when the version of individualism it expresses received great attention.

In 1933, soon after the Hitler regime came into power, Fritz Perls, his wife Laura and their first child fled to the Netherlands, and one year later they emigrated to South Africa, where Fritz Perls wrote "Ego, Hunger, and Aggression" in 1941 (published 1942). His wife Laura contributed to the book, but she is usually not mentioned. Then in the early 1950s, the Perls moved to New York, where Fritz Perls wrote "Gestalt Therapy" (with Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline) in 1951. (Paul Goodman did most of the actual writing). Fritz Perls moved to California in 1960, where he continued to offer his workshops as a member of the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, until his death in 1970.

Bibliography

• Ego, Hunger and Aggression (1942) ISBN 0-939266-18-0

• Gestalt Therapy: Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality (1951/1977) ISBN 0-939266-24-5

• The Gestalt Approach and Eye Witness to Therapy (1973) ISBN 0-831400-34-X

• Gestalt Therapy Verbatim (1968) ISBN 0-939266-18-4

• In and Out the Garbage Pail (1981) ISBN 0-553202-53-7

See also

• Existentialism
• Gestalt therapy
• Paul Goodman
• Phenomenology
• Wilhelm Reich

Influenced by Laura and Fritz Perls (Students)

• Jack Lee Rosenberg
• IBP Integrative Body Psychotherapy

External links

• A Life Chronology, by Frederick Perls
• Frederick Perls: A Son's Reflections, by Stephen Perls
• Growing Up Rugged: Fritz Perls and Gestalt Therapy by National Book Award winner Ernest Becker. Delivered as a talk shortly after Perls's death in 1970.

Writings and Lectures by Fritz Perls:

• Psychiatry in a New Key from the Unpublished Manuscripts of Fritz Perls
• Finding Self Through Gestalt Therapy, a transcript of a talk given at the Cooper Union by Frederick Perls in 1957
• Planned Psychotherapy by Frederick Perls. A talk given in the late 1940s at the William Alanson White Institute in New York City, "Planned Psychotherapy" predates the articulation of Gestalt therapy by a few years. Perls discusses in detail his developing use of focusing on the "here and now."

Interview with Fritz Perls:

• Fritz Perls: Gestalt Therapy A nearly forgotten interview with Fritz Perls (the co-founder of Gestalt Therapy) by Adelaide Bry

Other Links

Links previously listed here have been moved to the Gestalt Therapy page.

1893 births | 1970 deaths | Human Potential Movement | Neuro-Linguistic Programming predecessors | Psychologists

Fritz Perls | Fritz Perls | Fritz Perls | Fritz Perls | Fritz Perls | Fritz Perls | Frederick Perls | Fritz Perls